Means for registering sheets



Sept. 7, 1943. H. T. BACKHOUSE MEANS FOR REGISTERING SHEETS 7 Filed April 17, 1941' 2 sheets-sheet 1- flawur Tow/75:00 BIICAWOUJE ATTORNEY5 Z SheQ' ES-Sheet 2 Sept. '7, 1943. H. T. BACKHOUSE MEANS FOR REGISTERING SHEETS Filed April 17,1941

'INVENTOR. #:HDLEY Tow/755w allow/044E.

ATTORNEY5 Patented Sept. 7, 1943 UNITED STATES] PATE Nfll OFFICE MEANS FOR REGISTERING SHEETS Headley Townsend England Application April 11, 1041,- Serial No. 309.000 In Great Britain April :0. 1940 6 Claims. (c1. 271-54) this kindv when the sheets are moving at a high a speed is that the sheets tend to buckle when they strike the front guides or to bounce back. It is an object of the present invention to provide improved means for overcoming or reducing this difllculty.

The invention consists in mechanism for registering sheets of-paper, card or the like, being fed to a printing press or other machine, characterized by one or more suckers mounted above the feed board and arranged to grip the leading portion of each sheet in turn as it approaches the front guides, to move with the sheet until the front edge of the latter reaches the front guides and then either to release the sheet or, while still gripping it, to slide over the sheet leaving it at rest against the front guides and then to release the sheet, the sucker or suckers finally returning to initial position ready to engage the next sheet.

In the preferred form of the invention the sucker is moved, while gripping .the sheet, at a speed less than that at which the sheets are moved by the feeding means. When the mechanism is arranged to operate in this way the sheets are not only taken up to the front guides under the positive control of the sucker, but approach the guides at comparatively low speed without substantially reducing the speed of operation of the feeding mechanism as a whole.

In one embodiment of the invention the sucker is arranged to rest .upon the feed board at the beginning of each cycle of movements and is so shaped as to provide, in conjunction with thefeed board, a guide leading the edge of the mov-- ing sheet between the sucker and. the feed board so that the sheet slides under the sucker.

' each sheet as itis fed under the sucker face acts edge in contact with the feed board,thereby facilitating the entry of the sheet between the s'ucker and the feed board. a

The arrangement of the mechanismmay be such that during the operation of the mach ine suction is applied continuously to the sucker and as a valve, sealing the orifice and thereby allowing the suction to build up inside the sucker to cause it effectively to grip the sheet. Alte'rnatively the mechanism may be provided with a mechanically timed valve to control the application of suction to the sucker.

Themechanism may be so arranged that the a sucker isat rest when the sheets move intoengagement with it, or it may have already started its movement toward the front guides at the time when it is engaged by the sheet; One speciiic embodiment of the invention willnow be In the preferred construction of'this e'mbodi-] ment the sucker comprises a fiat surface of metal or other hard material having a suction orifice and arranged to lie, 'at the beginning of the cycle of movements, with its rear edge, consid-- described by way of example, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Fig. 1 is a fragmental side elevational view, partly in longitudinal section, of apparatus em bodying the invention and showing the sucker in a rearward position.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the sucker in it's raised and furthest forward position.

Fig. 8 is a. fragmental plan view on a smaller scale.

Fig.4 is a detail plan view of one of the suckers,'and r I Figs. 5 and 6 are detail views of modified forms of suction nozzle which may be employeddn c nnection with the invention.

In the illustrated embodiment there are two suckers in spaced apart across the feed board II at positions to engage the leading edge of each sheet as it approaches the front guides I 2, two of which are shown herein. The two suckers are similarly arranged and the description will therefore be confined to one of them. Each sucker is .carried at the forward end of an arm l3 provided with an air passage M with which the orifice H: of the sucker communicates. The rear end of .arm I3 is carried by a depending leg l6 of a lever which is pivotally supported upon a shaft or rod I 1 that extends across and abovethe feed board, In addition to the depending leg it each lever has another integral leg l8 rearwardly directed;

located. The arm l3 extends forwardly from lifted above it by an amount slightly greater than the thickness of the sheets to be handled.

Suction is continuously communicated to the passage Min the suckerarm I 3 by a flexible tube l3 connected to "anipfzple2,0 fixed to thelever-leg 1 l6 and having a connection to thesucke'r arm I3 through the pivot. In order to provide acon trol for thedegree of suction applied to the suck-' er orifice there is an adjustable leak valve 2| on the sucker arm arranged to admita controlled amount of air to the passage in the'arm.

1 5 suckersmay be held clear of the sheet until it has passed beneath them and they may then be The movements are transmitted to the sucker by oscillation of the lever l6, I8 about'its pivot l1. an arm 22 fixed on a hollow shaft 23 extending These oscillations are effected by means of.

across the feed board behind the. lever shaft ll.

The free end of arm 22 carries a. pin 39-which.

engages under the end of the lever arm l8. The shaft 23 is given an 'oscillatorymovement by means of a rod 24, the rear end of which-may be attached to an oscillatory, post 25 pivotally mounted at its lower end, as indicated atv 2t. On

this post I mountsa small roller 2,! which is engaged by a cam 28 keyed to a shaft 29 that rotates once for each cycle of movement of the machine, that is to say for each sheet fed.v The forwardend of the rod 24 is attached to a crank 30 fixed upon the shaft 23 outside, the frame 3|: of,

the machine. Formedpreferably integral with each arm 22 there is an upstanding arm 32 to 33 the opposite end of which is attached to an upstanding arm 34 integral with the lever l6, .l8. Hence when the shaft 23 i oscillated clockwise to the position indicated in Fig. 1 spring 33 is placed under tension. On the other hand, when shaft 29 revolves through 180 from the position of Fig. 1 the spring 33 contracts andswings shaft 23 to the Fig. 2 position and at the same time swings lever l6, l8 to the position of that figure. The shaft 23, being hollow, may be utilized for communicating suction to the flexible tube 9.

The cycle of movements of the sucker is such that it lies on the feed board in the manner described above as the leading sheet approaches the front guides I2 and until the front edge of the sheet has been fed under the sucker and has been ripped by it. The lever l6, I8 is then rocked in the direction tomove the sucker forwardly toward the front guides, the speed of movement being preferably less than that atwhich the sheets are fed by the conveyor 35 or other feedreaches the front guides the movement of the sheet i stopped by, its engagement with the guides. The sucker continues its movement, sliding on the sheet until. it has passed beyond the front edge of the sheet. It is then lifted clear of the sheet to allow the latter to be drawn under the sucker by the grippers of the printing ma chine indicated at 3B in Fig. 2. Thi lifting of thesucker is effected by final rocking of the lever been withdrawn, the lever I6, I8 is rocked in the opposite direction to return the sucker to its initial position.

The invention is illustrated as applied to a so-called stream feeder, that is a machine for feeding sheets in lapped relation, two sheets of a stream being indicated in the drawings at S and S 1 It is to; be appreciated that the movement of the sheets is arrested or, slowed down'as they are engaged bythe suckers'and that the-weight of the suckers. on the feed board contributes to this result. I I Theinvention is not to be restricted to the precise details described above. For example the loweredonto the sheet to grip it and to move forward with it.

Also, instead of one orifice, marked IS. in Figs. 2 and 4, in each sucker l0, there may be a plurality of smaller orifices illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 at and 46. These orifices are so arranged that as they slide off th sheet the grip is gradually end of said arm for moving the sucker back and forth in the direction of sheet travel and for raising it above the sheet path while a sheet is being withdrawn from the feed board, the forward end of said sucker being adapted to rest upon the feed board during its back and forth travel and the rear end of the sucker being raised slightly above the feed board in order to admit the forward edge of a sheet to the space between the feed board, means pivotally connected with the .ing device. When the front edge of the sheet sucker and the feed board, whereby the sheet may be slowed down by suction as it closes the suction orifice and by relatively slow forward movement of the sucker.

2. In a sheet feeder, a feed board, a sucker rear end of said arm for moving the sucker back and forth in the direction of sheet travel and for raising it above the sheet path while a sheet is being withdrawn from the feed board, the bottom surface of said sucker being fiat and being inclined upwardly toward the rear, whereby the forward end of the sucker normally rests upon the feed board and a tapered opening between the sucker and the feed board is presented to an advancing sheet, and whereby the sheet may be slowed down by suction as itcloses the suction orifice and by relatively slow forward movement V of the sucker.

3.'In a sheet feeder, a feed board, a sucker above the feed board, the forward end of said .sucker resting on the feed board and the rear end of the sucker and moving the sucker back and forth in the direction of sheet travel, said means comprising a lever mounted to swing about a transverse axis, an arm pivotally connected at its rear end to said lever, said sucker being carried at the forward end of said arm, means for swinging said lever in timed relation withthe sheet travel, and stop means on the lever and in order to admit the forward edge of a sheet to sheet travel, its forwardimovement being slower; than that of the sheet conveyor, whereby the foremost'sheet is slowed down as it moves under arm for holding those parts in relatively fixed relation at the forward end of the lever movement,

the space beneath the sucker, means for supporting the opposite end of said sucker and moving the sucker back and forth in the direction'of *sheet" travel, said'tmeans' comprising a v lever v mounted to swing on a transverse axis; an arm connected at one end to said lever by a trans-- verse pivot, said sucker being carried at the free i end of said arm, and means operating in timed relation with sheet travel for swinging the lever to advance the sucker at a rate slower than that of the sheet conveyor, whereby the foremost sheet is slowed down as it moves under the sucker orifice and when grippedby the sucker moves at the speed of the sucker. 5. In a sheet feeder, a feed board, a sheet conveyor, a sucker above the-feed board, the forward end of said sucker resting on the feed board and the rear end raised slightly above the feed board in order to admit the forward edge of a sheet to the space beneath the sucker, means for moving the sucker back and forth in the direction of the sucker orifice, and when grip d by the sucker v s t peed of the sucker, front guides against which the sheet rests as the sucker slides forward off the sheet, and means functioning in response to the final forward movement of the sucker for raising the sucker above the sheet path. 6. Ina sheet feeder, a feed board, a front guide at the forward end of said-feed board, a' sucker arm, a sucker at the forward end thereof above the feedboard movable back and forth in the "direction of sheet travel, the forward end of said sucker in its rearmost position resting on the feed board and the rear end raised slightly above the feed board in order to admit the forward edge of a sheet to the space beneath the sucker and to cause the advancing sheet to close the sucker mouth, means pivotally connected with the rear end of said arm operable to move the sucker forward on the feedboard in the direction of sheet travel beyond the front guide, whereby the sheet is registered, to raise the sucker after registration of the sheet and permit the sheet to be withdrawn from the feed board and thereafter to return the sucker to its rearmost position on the feed board for the reception of the next succeeding sheet. 4

HEADLEY TOWNSEND BACKHOUSE. 

